Dinner-pail



- (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

O. S. S. BARON.

I DINNER PAIL.

No. 364,567 v PatentedJune 7; 1887.

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UNITED STATES PATENT O FI E.

CHARLES S. S. BARON, OF BELLAIRE, OHIO.

DiNNER-PAILV SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,567, dated June 7, 1887,

Application'filcd J urinary 3, 1887. Serial No, 223,904. (No model.) 7

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES S. S. BARON, a citizen of the'United States, residing at Bellaire, in the county of Belmont and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dinner Pails and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in dinner-pails and other sheet-metal vessels, and

in the method of making the same; and it consists, mainly, in a dinner-pail composed of two or more sections or individual compartments placed one upon the other and united by tongueand-groove joints in such a way that each upper section or compartment can be slid in and out horizontally and removed from the one below.

It further. consists in a'removable knife-andfork case placed on the front of the vessel for locking the sections or compartments together; and, further, in the method of formingthe body of each section or compartment and the tongue and grooves thereof, all as will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

For the better understanding of my improvements in detail, attention is invited to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of a dinnerpail constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section of the same withjthe bail or handle in elevation; Fig. 3, a horizontal section through one of the lower sections or compartments, together with the knife-and-fork case; Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7, details showing the manner-of bending the metal to form the grooves; Figs.

compartments with the tongue on its lower edge made from separate pieces of metal sol dered to the outside.

Like letters of reference denote correspond ing parts/in the several views.

The dinnerpail is shown as consisting of threesections or compartments, A, B, and C; but it will be understood thatthere may be more or less of these compartments, according to the size and capacity desired. All of these sections or compartments are made square or rectangular, from sheet metal, and, with the exception of the upper one, are of like construction. This upper section or compartment, 0, is used preferably for coffee, tea, or milk, 810., and besides a tongue, 0, all around the bottom, for adapting it to slide in and out the section or compartment next below, it has on top, at some convenient point, a nozzle and screw-cap, c, for pouring in and emptying the contents; Each of the other sections or compartments A and B has four sides and a bottom only, and on-the upper edge of three of these sides is provided a groove, a, to receive a tongue, b, around the bottom of the next section or compartment.

The side of each section or compartment having'no groove on the upper edge is provided on the outside, about midway between its ends, with two vertical guides, d 01, preferably soldered thereto, and which receive the flanged knife-and-fork case D by sliding the same in from the top. This case D also serves to lock the sections or compartments together; but it may bedispensed with and any other locking device substituted.

The grooves a on the upper edges of the body may be made from a separate strip of metal, soldered either to the inside or the outside of the body, as in Figs. 11 and 12; but for economy and strength I prefer to form them from the same piece of sheet metal that forms the body, and as shown in Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7. One end of the sheet metal is turned up at right angles, as in Fig. 4, then bent back upon the same, as in Fig. 5, then turned up again at right angles, as in Fig. 6, and then bent out ward in the arc of a circle or curved, as in Fig. 7, where there is a double thickness of metal; but it is evident that this part of the body may be only a single thickness by form ing the groove from the first bend of the metal, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4.

To form the body of one of the lower sections or compartments, 1 takeablank of the desired size and form (shown in Fig. 8) and slit the upper edge at two points, y 3 ,and notch the lower edge at opposite points, a, which notches are for the purpose of allowing an edge to be thrown out to receive the bottom, as will be presently explained. The grooves a are then formed by bending the metal as'before described, and then by bending the blank at right angles from the slits and notches three sides of the body are formed. The fourthside or front, which needs no groove, is then soldered on or fastened in any well-known way.

Either before or after forming the side of the body, thelower edge of each side is turned outward at right angles to form a flange for attaching the bottom.

The blank for the bottom should be large enough to extend beyond this flange all around, and is attached by bending its edges over and back upon said flange, thereby forming the tongue Z), for sliding the section or compartment into the groove (t of the next section or compartment, although this tongue may be a separate piece of metal, soldered or fastened to the body, as in Fig. 13. After the bottom has been attached to the body, its turned-over edges may be soldered or secured to the flanges in any well-known way.

Instead of forming the body as above described, it may be formed from the blank shown inFig. 9 by bending it upward at right angles at 7 y and c to form the front, bottom, and back, and then by attaching the two ends so formed as to have tongues for engaging with the grooves. The body can also be formed entirely from one blank, as in Fig. 10, by bending all four leaves up at right angles and fastening the corners in any well-known way, and then by a squeezingdie an edge or flange could be forced outward at the bottom to form a tongue to engage with the grooves; or this tongue could be a separate piece of metal, as before mentioned. I prefer, however, to form the body of these sections or compartments with as few separate pieces as possible, as it results in a great saving of stock, and can be produced in any ordinary tin-shop with the tools in ordinary use.

Vhile I have selected adinner-pail to illustrate my invention, it must be understood that the construction and method of constructing are applicable in a variety of ways to a variety of sheet-metal vessels, and I desire this application to be so construed.

A single pan made in this way, with a cover adapted to slide in and out, would be very serviceable; or a cooking-vessel composed of several of these pans, one above the other, would be of service and advantage, because the ascending steam would heat sufficiently to cook the contents of each; or a common market or grocery pail made in this way would be convenient and desirable, and hence I do not wish to be con ti ned to a vessel for carrying cooked victuals.

In a dinner'pail built up of sections in this way there is no waste of space whatever, be-

cause they set one upon the other, whereas in other vessels of this kind each compartment has encroached to some extent upon the othcrthat is, they were either composed of several compartments incloscd in one, or of several compartments sunk partly one within the othcr,'rcsulting in a large waste of space at an increased expense.

Vhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A sheet-metal vessel provided with a groove on the upper edge of three of its sides, and with a flange around its bottom, in combination with another vessel of substantially the same construction, adapted to be used as a cover, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A sheet-metal vessel provided with a groove on the upper edge of three of its sides, in combination with another vessel acting as a cover, provided with a flange around its lower edge, and having agroove in the upper edge of three of its sides for the reception of the flanges on the bottom of another vessel acting as its cover, substantially as described.

3. A sheet-metal vessel consisting of two or more sections or compartments of the same size, each provided with a groove on the upper edge of three of its sides, and with a flat horizontal tongue all around the bottom, adapting the section above to he slid in and out of the section next below, substantially as described.

4. A di nncr-pail or similar vessel made from sheet metal and consisting of one or more pans, each provided with a groove on the upper edge, and with a tongue around the bottom, a pan or receptacle for holding liquids, provided. with a tongue around the bottom adapted to slide in and out of the groove of the pan next below, and a removable knife-amtfork case on one side for locking the parts together, substantial] y as described.

5. The herein-described method of making sheet-metal vessels of this particular construc- IIO tion, consisting of first forming the body from CHARLES S. S. BARON.

XVitnesses:

J. M. SA'rrnRnrELn, Janus C. (IMLLMAN. 

